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All, I am particularly interested in viewing examples (for inspiration) of what you view as a good/great footer area (of any ecommerce website).

Speaking of which, any interest in a footer module area? I added a call in the infoBoxes to select footer, and then a short jQuery wrap function to help keep the widths identical to the infoBoxes in the left and right column.

In my example I have information, best sellers and a new banner box. You'll notice that the banner spans the area that would normally fit 2 infoBoxes. When the banner box is loaded, jQuery picks up on it and changes the col-md-* class. However, if the banner were to be loaded in left/right column then it would just fit like any other infoBox -( of course the banner would need changed to one made to fit there_.

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I'm not sure which route to go for the Footer - whether to come up with some system to allow infoboxes to be placed in the footer, or to simply hardcode the footer. Depends on what people view as a "good" footer I guess and what of those good footers already exist in infoBoxes...

Undecided...

If we go down the route of being able to place infoBoxes, we definitely need to style those boxes in a different way the usual "panel" - I like the style of footer a bit like this: http://www.template.me.uk/stuart/maybe not with categories in the footer, but maybe something like the information infobox.

Edited March 18, 2014 by burt

This is a signature that appears on all my posts. IF YOU MAKE A POST REQUESTING HELP...please state the exact version
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I do not use the responsive bootstrap version since i coded my responsive version earlier, but i have bought every 28d of code package to support burts effort and keep this forum alive (albeit more like on life support).

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I'm not sure which route to go for the Footer - whether to come up with some system to allow infoboxes to be placed in the footer, or to simply hardcode the footer. Depends on what people view as a "good" footer I guess and what of those good footers already exist in infoBoxes...

Undecided...

If we go down the route of being able to place infoBoxes, we definitely need to style those boxes in a different way the usual "panel" - I like the style of footer a bit like this: http://www.template.me.uk/stuart/maybe not with categories in the footer, but maybe something like the information infobox.

I personally like the way the new version of prestashop handles the footer

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I'm not sure which route to go for the Footer - whether to come up with some system to allow infoboxes to be placed in the footer, or to simply hardcode the footer. Depends on what people view as a "good" footer I guess and what of those good footers already exist in infoBoxes...

Hi Burt,

As for me I would like to get rid of the complete right column and therefore put contents of infoboxes (e.g. information, contact us, reviews) into the footer, maybe some content like languagues, currencies and/or search into the header - and all others which are really necessary for the purchase process, into the left column. (I did that sometimes in a jquery shop, but am not yet familiar enough with BS to do that again with BS :blush: )

Hardcoded or not makes no difference for me, but it would be a nice feature, if one could select footer contents similar to your reviews feature on the product_info....

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Bear in mind also, that making a modular system does limit the shopowner in what they can do (until they know how to get past the standard functions and extend it themselves), or pay a developer to extend it. Does that matter ?

It's up to you guys to have a think about that, and provide feedback on your thoughts to this thread. In essense, Magento went this way (making things easy at first glance, but incredibly difficult when first glance becomes unwanted) - and that is what a lot of people hate about Magento....

This is a signature that appears on all my posts. IF YOU MAKE A POST REQUESTING HELP...please state the exact version
of osCommerce that you are using. THANKS

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.. put contents of infoboxes (e.g. information, contact us, reviews) into the footer, maybe some content like languagues, currencies and/or search into the header - and all others which are really necessary for the purchase process, into the left column

IMO, this is the key to good design. Too many stores have information scattered around the place - keep related items together, where possible and try to group in terms of function.

A few examples of live stores (though nobody's saying they're perfect):

These are just to illustrate the point of grouping, particularly with scope for enhancements/extensions, for example to display with/without tax (a requirement in some EU countries). Note: it's only the index page that I'm focussed on here - not the underlying page structure etc. Also, the footer in both cases had to be manually 'tweaked' to achieve those layouts, with the displayed contents.

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Bear in mind also, that making a modular system does limit the shopowner in what they can do (until they know how to get past the standard functions and extend it themselves), or pay a developer to extend it. Does that matter ?

It's up to you guys to have a think about that, and provide feedback on your thoughts to this thread. In essense, Magento went this way (making things easy at first glance, but incredibly difficult when first glance becomes unwanted) - and that is what a lot of people hate about Magento....

Hi

Please keep it simple.

All this requires is a few simple links placed in the footer. Or create a new file called footer_links.php which can be included in the footer.

No need for complicating this by involving admin and extra database queries.

This could be made into an add-on if required.

Regards

Ken

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Bear in mind also, that making a modular system does limit the shopowner in what they can do (until they know how to get past the standard functions and extend it themselves), or pay a developer to extend it. Does that matter ?

I think for the long term well being of osCommerce, modular is the way to go. That would allow so many more newcomers to get right along with their shop goals more easily, thus attracting that audience which I believe is important for osCommerce future. If someone wants to delve into coding they can, or as mentioned hire a pro for specific work.